Paper Ring
by estelio veleth
Summary: After Yuki's sudden confession of love, Soujiro is uncertain how to respond. Inspired by John Mayer's song Half of My Heart. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Hana Yori Dango or the song Half of My Heart by John Mayer. It's really too bad. I wouldn't mind having my own Jun-kun.**

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Paper Ring  
by estelio veleth

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_Half of my heart's got a grip on the situation  
half of my heart takes time  
Half of my heart's got a right mind to tell you  
That I can't keep loving you with half of my heart_

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Some might say that he was lucky because he'd been born into one of the wealthiest families in Japan. Others would say that he was lucky because he free as a bird to go wherever he wanted to go. He came and went as he pleased. He got everything that he wanted and more.

There was a time when he would have agreed with this. He would have been the first to agree that he was on top of the world. He would participate in exotic parties and become acquainted with striking women. But to him they were just women. They were only women and nothing more.

There was a time when he was perfectly content with the lack of serious relationships in his life. Love brought along a great amount of grief and pain and he had convinced himself that he didn't need love and he could survive without it.

At least that was how it had been until she came crashing into his life. Yuki Matsuoka.

Everything changed that night. He never should have stopped the car. He distinctly remembered repeating to himself that "she was not his type".

She had looked so helpless on that street corner. And something about the situation had tugged on his heart. Despite his strong feelings against getting involved in the business of others, he had gotten out of his car and walked to her side. Looking back on it, he couldn't fathom why he'd suddenly felt the need to comfort this girl he had just met. All in all, she was nothing more than a stranger, and against his better judgment, he had reached out to help her during her time of need.

The fateful evening had been the beginning of a long a complicated road that they would be embarking on together. Half of him felt that it was unfair. He was never really given a choice to whether or not he wanted walk down this road with her. But the other half of him, although he would never say it out loud, was beginning to believe that his life had been destined to intertwine with Yuki's.

Wouldn't that explain why she seemed to be around every corner that he turned? No matter how far away he ran, she always managed find him and bring him back. Like the time that he'd wanted to run away from the horror of his failed relationship with Sara. Yuki had brought him back and helped him face one of his greatest fears. Standing on the roof of the building together that morning, something changed.

At first, he thought it was because he believed that he owed her a favour for helping him find closure for something that had been so incredibly important to him. Over time, this feeling developed in to a great sense of respect. No matter what she did, Yuki was always thinking about the best of others and it was one of the few times that Soujirou had witnessed this kind of genuine kindness in a woman. Eventually, he became accustomed to having her around. It had become so normal to him that he found himself calling her on a regular basis. He had even caught himself looking forward to receiving messages from her on his cell phone and agreeing to regular meetings at a coffee shop.

Of course these blissful meeting had come to an end.

"_I love you."_

The three little words that had brought his life to a screeching halt. Despite her evident feelings for him, Yuki had never before showed any signs that she planned on telling him her feelings. Her abrupt confession had caught him off guard. Part of him could only focus on the fast beating of his heart, while the other logical part of his brain told himself that this was Yuki. He was left reeling, trying to understand her confession.

He'd never really understood her attraction to him. A girl like Yuki deserved someone that she could depend on. If there was one thing that Soujiro knew about himself it was that he was not the dependable type. Yuki was one of his dearest friends and she didn't deserve to suffer the way all the other girls had. So, he'd done what he did best, he had walked away.

That had been a week ago and he hadn't heard or seen her since.

At first, he hadn't felt it, but gradually, he felt the growing absence of her company. The number of times he had to stop himself from reaching for his cell phone to call or message her were too numerous to count.

The truth was that she was always there. Be it playing the part of his girlfriend to scare off his latest fling or sitting across the table from him every Tuesday afternoon with a patient expression as he told her of his most recent troubles.

Half of him believed that Yuki was too good. Too perfect. Too patient. He knew that because of the man he was, he didn't deserve Yuki. He'd grown up to become a lonely man, convinced that he wasn't deserving of love.

The other half of him longed for her company. He'd become accustomed to having her there to confide in. He wished he could see the rosy blush that appeared on her cheeks when he teased her. He hadn't slept well for the past week and he didn't understand the strong ache he felt in his heart.

And sitting there, in the coffee shop on a Tuesday, alone for the first time in a year he came to a sudden realization.

It wasn't long before he found himself at her doorstep.

He hesitated before knocking, but he tightened his hand around the object that he had in his pocket and tapped his knuckles on door.

It took all of his will to stop from running away from that doorstep. When the door began to open, he felt himself freeze in fear, like a child caught doing he shouldn't.

There she was, standing in her doorway. She was clad in pajama pants and an over sized sweatshirt that had fallen off one of her shoulders revealing creamy skin. Her dark hair hung loose down her back. He felt his breath catch in his throat. It was amazing how much more beautiful an average Yuki looked compared to the all overdressed, overdone women that he had been with in the past.

When she saw him, her eyes widened in surprise and part of him wanted to grab her and pull her close after being separated from her for such a long time. Then he noticed her eyes narrow in suspicion and he thought better of his plans to kidnap her and escape.

"What are you doing here Nishikado-san?"

The exhaustion he saw in her face seemed to mirror how he felt. A small part of him wanted to believe that just maybe this past week had been as hard for her as it had for him.

"I love you," he blurted out.

She blinked, surprised.

"You what?"

Okay, so not exactly the reaction he had expected. His heart dropped in his chest. Was it too late?

"I understand if you hate me. The truth is I never really felt the need for love before. I thought that it was because I wasn't meant for love. I was so sure that I was destined to be alone. And for a time there, I sincerely believed that I was strong enough to be without love."

"But this week has been the hardest for me in the last twenty three years of my life, and it was because you weren't there with me. I never realized what a great gaping hole there would be in my heart with you gone but it's there and it hurts so much that I'm finding it hard to believe I can live without you. And I understand now that the reason I've never felt the need to go looking for love is because you've been with me all along. And I don't care if wanting to be with you means that I'm selfish. I'm in love with you, Yuki. I want to be with you."

Finally, it was all out there in the open. Half of Soujiro was flying because he finally let his feelings be known but the other half was sinking because there was no response from Yuki.

Not sure if he could deal with rejection, Soujiro turned to leave without giving her another glance. Before he could take two steps however a hand on his sleeve stopped him.

The gentle hand brought back memories of the evening they had gotten revenge on that idiot boyfriend of hers. However, instead of the uncertainty he had seen in her face on that evening so long ago, Yuki looked determined.

His eyes widened in surprise when he felt a soft pair of inexperienced lips meet his own. Yuki's own eyes were closed tightly and the pair of arms she had wrapped around his neck prevented him from stepping back.

Slowly, he moved his hands to her waist and pulled her closer to himself. Her soft curves molded to his body. Then one of his hands moved to the dark curls that cascaded down her back while the other went to cup her face, holding her carefully as if she was the most precious thing in the world. His mouth moved carefully over hers, slanting his lips against hers and tentatively letting his tongue caress hers.

Finally, Yuki broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. A gentle smile played at her lips.

"I don't think I could ever hate you, Nishikado-san, no matter how hard I tried."

"Thank goodness," Soujiro muttered as he rested his forehead against hers. He knew that he had done many things in the past that should have been deserved her hatred. Then he took her hand and carefully put on her finger the object that he had been carrying in his pocket.

Yuki looked down in surprise at the carefully folded paper ring that he had slid on to her finger.

"A promise ring," Soujiro said when he noticed Yuki's slightly confused expression, "I promise that I'll be faithful to you, Yuki-chan."

Yuki nodded silently and at a loss for words. Tears threatening to spill from her eyes, she threw her arms back around him.

Smiling in to her hair, Soujirou returned her embrace. Yuki deserved than more just half of his heart. She deserved all of him.

"We'll get you an actual ring tomorrow. Who knew that Tiffany's wasn't open 24 hours?"

At this, Yuki let out a wet giggle in to his shirt. "That's okay, Nishikado-san. This paper ring is worth more to me than any ring made of gold of silver."

Soujiro hummed thoughtfully, "I'm not sure that I'd let my woman walk around wearing a paper ring. You can keep it, but we're buying you a ring tomorrow."

"Your woman?" Yuki asked, blushing.

"Yep. You're mine now, Yuki, and I'm never letting you go," Soujiro said smiling, knowing that Yuki's face would rosy red.

"Anyways, now that I've finally gotten over myself and confessed my undying love for you, are you going to invite me in? Or are you going to make me stand out here all night?" he asked with a teasing grin, gently pulling away from her.

Yuki laughed out loud, grabbing him by his tie, pulling him into the house after her.

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_Half of my heart  
can't stop loving you._

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**A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please review if you have the time. And I apologize to those of you suffering from a toothache for the super large quantities of sugar at the end. **


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